Along the eastern coastline of India, near the point where the holy Ganges meets the Bay of Bengal, there lies a mystical world: the Sunderbans. The largest mangrove forest in the world – named after the Sundari trees, one of the mangrove trees that were once a very commonly found species – is one of the most diverse wild spaces known to man.
A huge variety of flora and fauna inhabits these mangroves. Of course, the most famous of them all is the Bengal Tiger. Nowhere in the world do we find tigers living in such a habitat, and that is what sets the Sunderbans tiger apart from its counterparts in other regions of the country. But I have also had the opportunity to sight other wild cats, deer, boars, otters, macaques and dolphins. The mangroves are also home to a wide array of reptiles and birds.
The Sunderbans is also as fragile as it is diverse. Conservation efforts have helped maintain a healthy population of most species, but threats from increasing habitat loss, encroachment and man-animal conflicts still remain.
Click through (above) to view my photographs of this unique ecosystem.
